Railway-track current-controller.



No. 761,987. PATENTED JUNE 7, 1904. A. OESTERREIGHER.

RAILWAY TRACK CURRENT CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28, 1903. N0 MODEL.

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PATENTED JUNE 7, 1904.

A. OESTERREIGHBR. RAILWAY TRACK CURRENT CONTROLLER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 28, 1903.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented June 7, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED OESTERREICHER, OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO LORENZ NEIVIELKA, OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

RAILWAY-TRACK CURRENT-CONTROLLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 761,987, dated June 7, 1904. Application filed May 28,1903. Serial No. 159,170. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED OES'IERREICHER, civil engineer, a subject of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, residing at 21 Penzingerstrasse, XIII, Vienna, Austria-Hungary, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Track Current-Controllers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of the present invention consists of a railway-track current-controller especially devised for use with block-signals or train-stopping devices and which operates upon the already known principle that a movably-supported rail parallel to the ordinary rail is arranged to be pressed aside by means of the rims of the vehicle-wheels. The present construction provides for the rail being supported by guides and pressed by springs against the ordinary rail-head in such a manner that the movable rail is pressed away from the fixed rail by the passage of a train, and thereby the contact device is operated.

In the accompanying drawings this arrangement is illustrated in its combination in Figure 1. Fig. 2 shows a section, on an enlarged scale, through Fig. 1 on the lines A A. Fig. 3 shows a corresponding plan view. Fig. 1 shows a section of Fig. 1 on the lines B B on an increased scale. Fig. 5 shows the corresponding plan view with the cover removed. Fig. 6 shows a side elevation and partial section on the lines C C of Fig. 4:.

The arrangement comprises the rail 1, preferably of angle-iron, which is arranged on the inner side of the permanent rail 25 and parallel to this latter. The rail 1 is supported and guided upon chairs 2 3, placed in the neighborhood of the downward-bent ends of the fixed rail 1. These supports are attached in the usual manner to the rail-foot by means of the two screw-clamps 4 5, Figs. 2 and 3, and each holds a bolt or bar 6, which passes through a horizontal slot 7 in the rail 1 and in case of need is fixed to the fixed rail. Each of these bars 6 is surrounded by a spiral spring 8, which spring presses upon a support of the chair on the one hand and upon the rail 1 on the other, and thereby forces the said rail against the head of the fixed rail. This spiral spring may obviously be replaced by a spring of any other kind, such as a leaf or coiled spring, or by an elastic or pneumatic buffer. Between the two guides is placed the contact mechanism, Fig. 1 and Figs. 4 to 6. This consists of the bar 9, which is connected to the rail 1, for instance, by means of the projections 10 and the bolts 11. The bar 9 passes through the fixed rail and enters on the far side thereof in a covering. This covering may consist, for instance, of the piece 12, having its sides bent downward, and which by means of the screw-clamps 13 let (in the example illustrated the clamp 13 is in one piece with the cover 12) is fastened to the rail-foot and provided with a circular plate 15, having a flange 16. Upon this cover 12 the lid 17 is inserted from the front by way of a cap, so that it surrounds the plate 15, and is then seen red by the screws 18 and legs 19 to the clamp 13. Inside this housing, made water-tight by packing, the bar 9 is passed through a stuffing-box 20 and projects within the same into a space 21. Upon the plate 12 the plate 22 is fixed, of insulating material, such as marble, in which plate two contact-plates 23, connected to the cables, are fixed. To the rod 9 there is attached a contact-brush 24, which in the example illustratcd remains out of reach of the contacts as long as the rail 1 is in its normal position and when a train passes is pushed by the motion of this rail away from the fixed rail over the contacts 23, and thereby the passage of the current is effected. Finally the rail 1 returns to its original position under the action of the springs 8, and thus interrupts the contact. If the arrangement is that-of current-breaking, then the operation is reversed.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim isl. The combination of a track-rail, a contact making or breaking mechanism, a laterally-sliding rail arranged beside the trackrail, a guide for said last-named rail carried by the track-rail, means for normally maintaining said last-named rail in a definite position relatively to the track-rail, and operative connecting means between said last-named rail and the contact making or breaking mechanism, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a track-rail, a contact making or breaking mechanism carried by the track-rail, a laterally-sliding rail arranged beside the track-rail, means for normally maintaining said last-named rail in a definite position relatively to the track-rail, and operative connecting means between said last-named rail and the contact making or breaking mechanism, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a track-rail, a contact making or breaking mechanism clamped tact making or breaking mechanism comprising a base portion clamped to the track-rail, a housing or cover carried by said base portion and protecting the operating parts of said contact making or breaking mechanism, a laterally-sliding rail arranged beside the track-rail, means for normally maintaining said last-named rail in a definite position relatively to the trackrail, and operative connecting means between said last-named rail and the contact making or breaking mechanism, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a track-rail, a contact making or breaking mechanism, a laterally-sliding rail arranged beside the track-rail, guides for said last-named rail clamped to the track-rail, a bolt connecting the rail with the extremity of each of said guides, a spiral spring surrounding each bolt and interposed between said last-named rail and the extremity of said guide, and operative connecting means between said last-named rail and the contact making or breaking mechanism, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day of May, 1903.

ALFRED OESTERREICHER.

Witnesses:

J OHANN FLOTI-I, ALvEs'ro S. HooUE. 

